Day: July 27, 2012

Students at a Lutheran university in Minnesota will be out hunting among the various vendors to buy the health insurance required by the college for attendance – or else will be trying to piggyback on their parents’ plans – effectively immediately because of Obamacare’s new rules and regulations.

The college announcement about its changes was reported on by CampusReform.org.

According to its website, the school dropped a program that it previously had offered to students.

“Gustavus Adolphus College expects all students to carry adequate health insurance during their enrollment. While the college will not be offering a plan for students because of recent changes to student health plan regulations and the Affordable Care Act issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we offer you the following resources to consider: 1. Staying on or enrolling in your parents health insurance …. 2. Purchase your own coverage through a private vendor. 3. Apply for state medical assistance through the county in which you live.”

A letter from college officials sent to students, and forwarded to CampusReform, confirmed the message, stating, “Recent changes to student health plan regulations and the Affordable Care Act … have resulted in our reconsideration of offering a voluntary health plan to Gustavus students.”

The letter continued, “The result is that Gustavus will discontinue offering any health care coverage for students.”

Student Rebekah Cleary told CampusReform, “It’s unfortunate the plan had to be canceled due to politicians tinkering in Washington. When I tore my ACL the [old] plan covered almost all of my expenses. I don’t know what I would have done without it.”

One of the most controversial requirements of Barack Obama’s strategy to control health care in the U.S. is that all employers must provide contraceptive and abortion coverage at no additional cost.

Because of that, a long list of other universities already have taken another route: filing lawsuits against the federal government.

Wheaton College, Billy Graham’s alma mater, was among the most recent to join that action, filing suit over the federal demand. A number of Catholic universities earlier launched the campaign. And EWTN and Priests for Life have taken similar actions

A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.

“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.

“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.

The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.